While modern Jazz hero Branford Marsalis is slightly more inclusive in his musical activities than his brother, Wynton, he is no less a perfectionist in those pursuits.
  

Few duos make the visceral impact or cover the incredible range of Cleveland’s Mr. Gnome, comprised of impish guitarist/vocalist Nicole Barille and hammer-and-tong drummer/keyboardist Sam Meister.
  

Eddie Murphy’s best story about his early success has been told in various forms, but this is my personal favorite.  Murphy, of course, became a sensation in the early ’80s as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and with his frenetically urban stand-up act. He then showed his power as a box-office draw with 48 Hours, Trading Places and Beverly Hills Cop. In 1...  

There’s a case to be made that musicians often draw on their acting skills as performers and that actors channel their inner Rock star when working a crowd. Chris Isaak has totally blurred the line between those two constructs.
  

When Miss May I frontman Levi Benton relocated from his home in Troy, Ohio, to Cincinnati earlier this year, he fully expected that people might recognize him on the street. After all, his Metalcore quintet has been the recipient of some potent buzz recently, including a cover feature in Alternative Press.  

James McMurtry has gone from strength to strength in the past 23 years, compiling an estimable catalog of eight studio albums and a pair of stellar live recordings as proof of his compelling stage presence.   

 A native Texan, Ruthie Foster’s family tree was ripe with Gospel singers, but she quickly absorbed the Lone Star State’s other musical identities, like Folk, Blues, Country and Rock, to which she added her own soulful spin.   

Four years ago, Dean & Britta's Dean Wareham was approached with a proposition by Ben Harrison, Performing Arts Curator for Pittsburgh’s Andy Warhol Museum. Harrison was looking for someone to compose a soundtrack of sorts for a series of filmed portraits Warhol shot in the mid-’60s.    

Since his emergence from the San Francisco Jazz scene nearly two decades ago, Charlie Hunter has defined his stylistic direction by resolutely refusing to be tagged as any one thing, preferring to embrace and explore whatever captures his imagination.   

Very few people fit the true definition of prodigy, but Joe Bonamassa could be the poster child for prodigies. By age 7, after three short years of playing guitar, Bonamassa was regurgitating note-perfect renditions of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix.